Technical Note 15. Psychometric characteristics of cognitive development and achievement instruments in Round 2 of Young Lives.
Abstract
Getting estimates of the cognitive abilities and achievements over time of children that are participating in the YL project is important as these variables may be considered both outcomes (proxy for the individual's skills) and predictors of later outcomes. The main concern in administering and using the results of these tests is that their reliability and validity is established before using the data for research. This is because these tests for the most part were not developed for the specific contexts in which they were used in YL. Hence, the main goal of the analysis presented in this paper is to establish the reliability and validity of each of the tests administered for each cohort within each country.
The paper is organised into six sections, including an introduction. The second section presents the framework for the analysis, introducing definitions and theories of validity and reliability. Section three includes a description of each of the cognitive development and achievement instruments used in the YL project. The fourth section presents information on the data and methods used in this paper, and the results on the psychometric characteristics of the tests are presented in section five. Finally, in section six, some considerations about the use of the test scores are presented, as well as recommendations for the assessment of cognitive development and achievement in Round 3 of the YL project.
Data and statistics are provided in separate annexes to the main Technical Note.
Citation
Cueto, S.; Leon, J.; Guerrero, G.; Muñoz, I. Technical Note 15. Psychometric characteristics of cognitive development and achievement instruments in Round 2 of Young Lives. (2009) 89 pp.